1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to communications systems and, more particularly, to conveying biometric information over a communications system.
2. Description of the Related Art
When one caller places a telephone call to another caller, it may be difficult for one caller to determine how the other caller, or speaker, is feeling from an emotional perspective. Without the aid of visual images, often times, a listener is left to rely upon past experience in dealing with the speaker to perceive attributes of the speaker's voice that indicate emotional states. For example, from past interactions, the listener may be able to determine that the speaker is stressed, happy, or sad. That is, the listener must rely upon hearing and judgment to gauge the speaker's state of being.
The ability to determine such attributes can be beneficial, particularly in cases where one has had no previous interaction, or minimal interaction, with a call participant. In such cases, recognizing the call participant's emotional state would be difficult, if not impossible. For example, in cases where one is engaging in a conference call with unknown individuals, the ability to determine another's emotional state, or biometric information that provides an indication of one's state of being, can be beneficial.
The ability to determine one's state of being can be beneficial in other situations such as checking on a child. Children tend to be less talkative when in the company of adults. For example, when checking on a child that is in the presence of others, such as a babysitter, the child is likely to respond to inquiries about the child's well being with uninformative answers such as “I'm fine” or “I'm okay”. The ability to determine the child's state of being would provide parents with valuable information as to the child's welfare.